114 – Life as a British Soldier in West Berlin

Anthony enlisted in the British Army in 1987 and after 9 months he was posted to West Berlin.

He tells the story of life as a Private in Berlin from the drinking (and the fighting) to the urban warfare training in Ruhleben & Dough Boy City. We also hear of the reality of knowing that should the Cold War have turned hot his life expectancy would have been in hours.

It’s also a tale of tragedy and the forgotten casualties of the Cold War where injury and death could come even in peacetime. Two of Anthony’s fellow soldiers died during his two-year tour of Berlin and we’d like to dedicate this episode to remembering Lance-Corporal Ian Fleming and Lance-Corporal Mick Quayle. We thank them for their service.

If you are enjoying the podcast please leave a written review in Apple podcasts or share us on social media. By telling your friends you can really help the podcast grow.

If you can spare it I’m asking listeners to contribute $3 USD per month to help keep us on the air (larger amounts are welcome too) plus you can get a sought after CWC coaster as a monthly financial supporter of the podcast and you bask in the warm glow of knowing you helping preserve Cold War history.

Our Latest Podcasts

We talk to Mark Brayne again in a wide ranging chat about his career as a Reuters & BBC journalist including details of his Stasi file, his time in the Soviet Union, Hungary & Poland as well as the perils of editing analogue tape in a non-digital age.Among his interviewees we talk about the Dalai…

In Britain and the Bomb Bill Nuttall considers Britain's national journey from Empire to Europe and the transition of British nuclear weapons from the Royal Air Force to the Royal Navy.If you are enjoying the podcast please leave a written reviews in Apple podcasts or share us on social media. By telling your friends you…

Mark Brayne studied in Moscow 71-72, travelling the country with fellow UK students and spending silly amounts of time in the bathhouses with salted fish and very poor quality beer. He returned in 1974-75 as Reuters trainee journalist where he became very close to Andrei Sakharov, the father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb and Soviet-era…

What our listeners say

Incredible Podcast

☆☆☆☆☆

This is easily the best historical podcast out there and it might just be the best podcast of all. Well researched and put together by the host plus an impressive array of guests. Start listening if you haven’t already.

marrdave via Apple Podcasts ·Great Britain ·02/05/2020

just brilliant

☆☆☆☆☆

i’ve found it difficult to find a good, varied and informative podcast on soviet history, until now. as a post-graduate student studying soviet history this podcast is a real gem to listen to while i’m pottering about in the flat or commuting. highly recommend to anyone wanting to know more about this period in history beyond what books will tell you.